Better hurry if you're getting outdoor gifts

If your man is anything like me, the last thing he worries about is what he is getting for Christmas. If I need it, I buy it.

We men like piling up knives, rods, reels, guns, decoys and camo. My wife doesn't even try to buy for me anymore. No sense wasting money on something I will never use.

Despite what some consider the easy way out, we men like a gift certificate for a hunting or fishing trip, a line of credit at Academy, Bass Pro, Lowes, Home Depot or Johnny's Sport Shop. A gift card in hand allows us to ponder our decision, and gives us a place to go when we drop her off at the mall.

However, some ladies are determined to wrap something and toss it under the tree that will not fit in a wallet. Here are a few ideas:

For the angler, anything Shimano will get it done. The new Chronarch 50 baitcaster fits in the palm of your hand, but the Core 50 is still my favorite. The Sedona, Sahara and Stradic are good choices for spinning tackle. If you want to go all out and put a reel on a rod, any Shimano reel on a Waterloo rod is hard to beat. Waterloos are superior rods only found at quality tackle shops like Johnny's and Fishing Tackle Unlimited. A quality piece of graphite is worth its price tag on those days, especially in the winter, when fish bite subtly. • Anything by Columbia, whether it is camo, fishing or fleece is a solid choice as well. Fill a shoe box full of Corkies, MirrOlures, TTF Flats Minnows, Trout Killers, Hackberry Hustlers, Bass Assassins, Norton Sand Eels and Gulps. Toss in jigs heads, new line, pliers and maybe even a wading belt.

• For those with a boat, buy something new for the vessel like a GPS, radio, net or scrub brush. A new Power Pole will really put a smile on his face. Try a preloaded credit card to buy gas for the next outing, or maybe even a new pair of polarized shades like Costa's, Maui Jim's or Oakley's.

• Hunters never turn down a new jacket. My favorite is a Browning down jacket. I have two down jackets and two vests. My wife even lets me wear them out on the town. Last year I bought my little girl a Browning camo jacket and a separate down vest. She was wearing the vest this chilly morning as she headed out the door for school. Camo has become a fashion statement despite its intended use in the field.

While we are talking about Browning, I have a good idea my wife bought me the new Browning A5 shotgun. A remake of the classic humpback, the new A5 is inertia driven and much lighter than the original autoloader.

A pocket-sized digital camera or waterproof camera is a good choice. I carry a waterproof Canon digital in my pocket when I am wading to capture the action when it happens. Technology in cameras has improved tremendously.